“Hello, sweet brother-in-law, you sure look different today,” Aleeza said, handing Kurt a steaming cup of coffee while offering another to his brother, her mate.
“Here, my love.”
“Hello Aleeza,” he greeted his sister-in-law, ignoring the pang in his chest at the way the mated pair looked at each other.
Their love was almost palpable in Dib’s large office. The tiny she-Wolf dropped a kiss on her mate’s cheek then turned to face Kurt. He thanked her for the coffee, and waved goodbye as she left to work on her own cases, pregnancy notwithstanding.
Dib was the real litigator of the two. Kurt preferred the work leading up to the trial as opposed to the actual arguing or laying it out. Dib had the kind of charisma needed to successfully present an argument or case.
The truth was, once Kurt uncovered the facts, laid out the law, and won the argument in his head or on paper, he did not much care what anyone else thought. Oh well, everyone had their strengths. And his was in research or detective work, as he often liked to call it.
Dib was due for court in an hour, which would have explained the suit and tie, but then again, his brother always seemed to dress that way. One of the many things they did not have in common, despite being twins.
Weirdo.
Kurt looked down at his own attire. He was wearing a red t-shirt that said I ate Santa’s cookies with a picture of a Wolf licking his fangs. He wore it with a disreputable looking pair of black jeans with holes in both knees and lime green sneakers. Festive, in his opinion.
“Alright, spit it out,” Dib grunted without any ado.
Not the most favorable of signs, Kurt was aware. But when he needed advice, Dib was the man he went to. They were brothers, twins. They had a bond and a deep, abiding affection for one another that only other twins or multiples could understand.
“What? I didn’t say anything,” Kurt hedged.
“No, but you don’t have to say anything. What’s going on?”
Dib looked up from the file he’d been perusing unnecessarily. The man had a mind like a trap and was more than prepared for whatever case he was arguing today.
Kurt mulled over the decision to tell him for half a second, then he spilled the beans. If there was one person in the world whose judgment Kurt knew he did not have to fear, it was his brother’s. They were as close as any brothers could possibly be, and just as different as apples and oranges.
And he really needed advice. Kurt had pressing matters to attend. Like getting a hold of his feisty little mate and making sure she knew that was where she belonged. Yep, that was number one on his list.
Second, was kissing her and loving on her until neither one of them could stand. The female was entirely too gorgeous for her own good, and she did not seem to have a clue about it, which was really driving him nuts.
How could someone have eyes like silver lightning, a body that wouldn’t quit, and porn star lips, and not fucking know it?
Whatever.
He was going to work night and day to correct her mistaken belief that she was boring or simply passable.
In fact, it was going to be his pleasure to make sure Clara Crescent was aware of her extreme beauty and blatant sex appeal, if it was the last thing he did. She was a fucking goddess. Her skin, her eyes, those lips, her taste. He’d sky write it if necessary.
His Wolf snarled, and Kurt paused, taking inventory of his thoughts.
Note to self, kill anyone with a penis who agrees with that assessment.
Nope. That wouldn’t work.
Updated note to self: Kill anyone at all, penis or not, who says our mate is sexy.
Okay, better. Now, where was he? Oh yeah…
Third, Kurt needed to nail down a proper nickname for his sweet, powerful, and completely fuckable mate.
He couldn’t believe her Wolf had claimed him! He was thrilled for sure. The idea of being mated had never been this powerful, but holy fuck. Kurt belonged to someone now. But the woman was nowhere to be found! He’d tried calling, texting, emailing. Even went to her front door, but no one was home at the Crescent place.
He just wanted to see her. Okay, he was lying. He just wanted her. And it was more than want. He needed her more than food or air.
“Do you want Aleeza all the time?” Kurt asked his brother.
“Bro, I am not discussing my sex life with you—”
“No, I don’t mean that. I mean, like, when you got mated, afterwards, did you feel inexplicably drawn to her?”
“Oh,” Dib replied, clearing his throat. “Yeah, man. I mean, she’s my heart, my soul. I want her all the time—”
“How do you deal with being apart?” Kurt asked, and he really wanted to know.
At the moment, he felt like he was being torn in two. Nothing held any appeal. All he wanted was Clara. Betsy, one of their paralegals, had brought in Anisette cookies and he didn’t even want one. Those were his favorites!
Shit.
If this was how every mated pair felt, how did anyone get any work done! Every time he touched his ear lobe shivers raced down his spine and his cock went rock solid. Images of Clara in the throes of passion filled his brain, making him ache and sweat, and growl with need.
“If you are asking does sexual desire abate after claiming your mate, the answer is no. It intensifies. But, since we can’t live in bed, we deal,” Dib said, with a secret grin on his face.
“Of course, there are times I think I’ll lose my mind if I don’t touch her, but our matebond is there to see me through. It gets stronger every day. Keeps us connected even when we are apart. But Kurt, why do you want to know?”
Fuck. He hadn’t planned on confessing exactly. But what else was he going to do? He knew what he wanted, and that was to be with Clara. No matter what happened.
She’d bitten him, and he was dying for her to do it again. Only this time, he wanted her naked and writhing against him. Yes, please. Then he’d give her one, maybe two more, just to be sure she and everyone else knew she was his.
Mine.
His Wolf growled impatiently. The beast demanding Kurt stop fucking around with unimportant shit and go find his mate.
Hell.
He’d been walking around with a semi hard on ever since her Wolf nipped his earlobe. Shivers raced through his body just remembering the power that surged through him at her bite.
“Have you ever heard of a Wolf marking their mate in animal form?” Kurt asked, ignoring his brother’s question.
“In Wolf form?” Dib repeated, eyebrows raised. “Um, no, not in real life anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know as well as I do the legends, Kurt. Alpha rogues are nothing to be flippant about. A Wolf only assumes control when the human side is weaker—”
“No. I don’t believe that.”
“If a Wolf is too dominant, it puts everyone at risk, Kurt. Are you having trouble with your Wolfish side?” Dib looked at his brother nervously, but Kurt waved him away.
“No, of course not. I am fine Dib.”
But he was frowning, hard. Something Dib noticed. Kurt was unhappy with the answer his brother gave him, but he replaced that with his trademark happy-go-lucky smile on his face and turned to leave.
“Where are you going now?”
“Oh, I’m off. I have to see Rafe about my meeting with the Talmhain Coven,” Kurt said.
And he had to stop at a certain bookstore along the way, he thought quietly as he got into his truck. Werewolves were notorious for being speed demons on the road, but Kurt preferred power to velocity.
Capability, talent, efficacy, and fortitude meant more to him. He liked his Rezvani just fine. But the moment he’d started thinking of power and what it meant, he recalled the silver she-Wolf and his own beast growled.
Clara. Clara. CLARA!
Her name was on repeat inside his brain, like Christmas carols on those holiday stations, he thought with a snort. His Wolf was positively pining for the woman. All his plans to see Rafe about the treaty flew out the door as he drove down the icy streets of Maccon City.
Here I come, awoooo!
The snowstorm had dumped over fifteen inches of the white stuff on the ground, but the streets were drivable. Snowplows and salt trucks had been at it most of the morning already. With Christmas so near, all the local shops had no choice but to open.
‘Tis the season to support local businesses, he thought with a grin, having already placed several large orders around town for the holidays. Of course, there was one place he hadn’t visited, Silver Moon Jewels on Route 36. Kurt made a mental note to do that later.
But first, he had somewhere to be. His Wolf was riding him hard and urging him to go faster the whole ten minute trip despite the bad weather. Stepping on the gas, Kurt pulled up outside Crescent Moon Books with fur sprouting from his pores.
He took a moment to calm down. It was unseemly for him to carry on so, and he couldn’t very well walk around with a half-shift when normals were out and about. On Halloween maybe, not solstice.
Delighted when he saw the parking lot was empty save for a familiar cherry red Volvo, Kurt licked his lips. Clara was there. He just knew it. Felt her in the thin, but present matebond they had initiated just yesterday.
Grinning, he exited the vehicle and stalked to the door. Someone had cleared away the snow, and he frowned. Clara’s beast was mighty, but her human body suffered permanent injury once upon a time. Worry filled him. Surely, she was not so stubborn to attempt to shovel the heavy, wet snow on her own.
Fucking hell.
Kurt knew the answer to that the second he asked himself the question. Yes, she was. And that meant his mate could be feeling pain in her leg, or worse. He sniffed the air, picking up only traces of her scent, and knew without a doubt she’d been the one to clear the path. Running to the door, he flung it open.
“Clara!”
He heard her whimper before she replied and raced across the floor to the back room. Then he saw her, bent over and grasping her leg. Clara was leaning against the counter with one arm, trying to make it to the sofa with her skirt lifted and a heating pad against her thigh.
“What’s wrong? Cramp?” Kurt asked, tossing off his jacket and moving to her side.
She could do no more than nod, though he saw shock fill her dove gray eyes when she recognized him. Funny how much that small look shook him.
He was used to seeing her gaze all silver edged steel with her predator blazing within. But now they were all soft and warm, vulnerable, and sweet. Two very different sides of the same woman.
There was no one else like her, and he silently thanked the gods for sending her to him. Sweet smelling and soft, he dropped a kiss on her head. She was quiet and pliable in his arms, and Kurt just breathed her in.
Having Clara this close made his head spin with desire. He wanted her so badly, couldn’t wait to kiss her pretty pink lips. But first, he needed to take care of her.
Call it a biological imperative, or simple machismo, he did not give a fuck either way. He just knew she was hurting, and he needed to make it stop.
“Easy, pumpkin,” he whispered, noticing her pain filled snort.
Sweeping her off the floor and into his arms was the easy part. He held the heating pad in place and sat down on the sofa with her tucked in his lap. Clara moaned softly, grimacing with hurt.
“Stupid, I overdid it—”
“Hey, no one calls my girl stupid. Not even my girl. Now, let’s see what you did to yourself, sunshine.”
“Yeah, right,” she grimaced as he removed the pad.
Kurt made soothing noises, then placed his big palm over her thigh, massaging the taut muscle instinctively. He must have hit the right spot, because she soon sighed and went limp in his arms. Kurt’s entire body buzzed with awareness.
To think he was once a happy bachelor! Ha! Now he could hardly breathe without her. Why would he want to when she smelled so damn good? Like strawberries and lazy days in the sun.
Clara parted her lips in relief, eyes closed, she laid her head against him, so sweet and trusting. He inhaled carefully, unwilling to disturb her as he worked the knot out of her limb.
“Oooh, that feels so much better,” she moaned, and his cock twitched in reply.
“I’m glad,” he whispered, easing his touch until he was merely stroking her flesh.
Impossibly soft skin met his fingers as he traced circles up her thigh. He encountered the scar she’d received as a result of the crash. Imagining his brave mate trapped in that vehicle, her leg crushed, body broken and bleeding, made him want to rage and lash out. But she was safe now, safe and sound and in his arms. He traced the lightly raised skin, battling her sudden tension with the steady movements he refused to stop.
He counted scars from stitches where doctors had operated. Knew from the story her body told how much she had suffered and how hard her Wolf had tried to repair the damage.
He hated that she was hurt, wanted to take away her pain, but was so fucking grateful she was alive and safe, and in his arms, he could not help but grin. Of course, it was at that moment her eyes snapped open. She went to move, but his arms tightened around hers.